PHOTO: F-35B engages clutch

I’m taking a break from my quick holiday to post another new photo released by Lockheed Martin. It shows the BF-1 flight test aircraft engaging the lift fan propulsion system for the first time. (Click on the image to download the high-resolution file.)

Photo: Andy Wolfe/Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin released the statement below:

The Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II stealth fighter engages its short takeoff/vertical landing propulsion system in flight for the first time, near Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., on Jan. 7. F-35 Lead STOVL Pilot Graham Tomlinson said afterward that the aircraft flew smoothly with the STOVL system engaged and was very easy to control.